Meet Stephen Hemmert | Co-Owner and Winemaker – Stephen Hemmert Wines

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stephen Hemmert and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephen, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Quality of the wine we produce. Like many of our wine club members say, “Your wine sells itself” But just as important as the wine is the service we provide our customers. You must have great wine to compete with everyone else in the industry, but your people make the difference. Great service means customers stay and enjoy your Tasting Room longer and in doing so, purchase more.

What should our readers know about your business?
My Fianc’e Nicole StJulian and I set up our LLC in the summer of 2014 we were making wine at a local winery in Agua Dulce. Knowing that we wanted to have our own winery one day, we began the search for a building and area that would facilitate our needs. Unfortunately, we could not find anything near where we lived, and through a tip of a friend, we met with the owner of a building in Lancaster CA. The owner wanted our type of business there and it was a Godsend that we hit it off with him then, on November 1st, 2018, we opened the winery and tasting room to the public.

Establishing a winery and tasting room takes a lot of effort. Getting the building set up to meet city codes, and applying for an ABC license, but also getting permission from the city and federal government takes time. Luckily, the City of Lancaster wanted our business in the community and dealing with the TTB. (Federal Gov) was quite easy. Getting quick approval from the ABC in Van Nuys was our longest battle as documents were lost internally many times. These issues caused us to miss the harvest season in 2018. Luckily, a friend of mine in Paso Robles told us of a vineyard owner that had some grapes still available and so we picked up two tons of Pinot Noir from her so at least we had some wine to make in 2018.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well, of course, my friend would hang with us at the winery, discovering the wines we produce and the ambiance of our Tasting Room. We have seven wineries in my area so I would take them to a couple of the other wineries then to Bravery Brewing Company and Lucky Lukes Brewing. The owners are friends of mine and they do a great job. I would also take them to Vasquez Rocks to see the crazy rock and terrain formations. For dinner, I would take them to my friend’s French Restaurant, “Le Chene” which is near my house in Agua Dulce. Of course, we might have to head to Hollywood and Los Angeles to make the vacation compete for them.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Mark Hemstreet at Destination Lancaster has assisted us in getting to where we are. We first met Mark when he was with the Chamber of Commerce in Lancaster, where our business is located. He introduced us to various people in the city who would help us establish our business and help it grow. Now he is dedicated to attracting people to Lancaster which helps us continue to expand our business.

Website: https://www.stephenhemmertwines.com

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